the clerk: nominations to the judiciary, john e. dowdell of oklahoma to be united states district judge. jesus g. bernal of california to be united states district judge. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will now be 30 minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form. mr. sanders: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i would ask unanimous consent to be able to speak as if in morning business until senator leahy arrives. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: thank you. madam president, what i was just suggesting is there are ways to do deficit reduction that are fair. the first point, in terms of $4 trillion over a ten-year period, we have already cut over $1 trillion in terms of spending , $1.1 trillion. number two, i think the president is right in suggesting that we have got to ask for significant revenue from the wealthiest people in this country, the top 2% without asking for any tax increases for the bottom 98%. and that would add $1.6 trillion